Fact-checking is the single best training not just for journalism, but for life in general. That's the view of Esther Dyson, who, unsurprisingly, is a former fact checker.

It teaches you to be sceptical and to have a reverence for the truth, she writes, and now that almost anyone can operate as a reporter, she offers some sage advice.

"As the journalistic priesthood erodes and everyone can become a citizen reporter or commentator, regulating or training all would-be journalists is not the answer.

In line with the bottom-up, do-it-yourself ethos of the internet, where people book their own flights, publish their own photos, and sell their own second-hand goods, it should be the users' responsibility to do their own fact-checking.

This is not to say that journalists should not check their own facts... But in the end, everyone has to become a better reader – more sceptical and more curious.

Why is this story getting so much attention? Does this blogger ever say anything negative, or is she always talking about the great products she uses? Does she have any kind of disclosures on her blog? Why is this politician saying nice things about that politician? What company does the product reviewer work for?"

"Websites will offer not just content but reputation systems, so that contributors will have reputations as reliable sources (or not).

We should not outlaw anonymity (which has its uses), but we can ask for details about the people whose words we are reading. Someone may legitimately want to remain anonymous, but we can draw our own conclusions about their reasons...

In this increasingly confusing world, we need to spend a little more time labouring to ensure our own intellectual integrity – a task that we cannot outsource to governments or even to media.

Facts are holy, but not all media that claim to report them, 'new' or old, can be trusted."